“I’ve had this picture to post for a few days. I just haven’t been sure what to say? Like my mind, the photo has sat as a ‘draft.’ In limbo. A bit confused. It was taken one day after my wife, unexpectedly and without a definitive cause, seized violently in front of her family on a shuttle bus full of strangers,” Ryan, 42, explained. “In almost 17 years as a firefighter, my experience has trained me to address the immediate emergency. However, little in my 42 years of life prepared me for the confusion and contemplation that remains after the tide of immediacy has settled.”

Hours earlier, Trista posted that she was “grateful” to be OK and vowed to live life to the fullest from now on. Ryan says that the “outpouring of love and kindness” that the couple have received has helped them through the tough time.

“Without a doubt, you have been instrumental in the healing process and a humbling source of strength for @tristasutter and I,” he wrote on Monday. “So, with that message, I post this simple picture. It’s my wife – at her best – capturing life as she always has, though now through a more meaningful lens.”